Obesity is typically assessed by measuring someone's body mass index, but now researchers are calling for a more nuanced approach that could help with treatment

An international commission made the case for focusing on body fat quantity and the illnesses people experience.

By accepting optional cookies, you consent to the processing of your personal data - including transfers to third parties. Some third parties are outside of the European Economic Area, with varying standards of data protection. See our privacy policy for more information on the use of your personal data.

Using body-mass index to tell who is overweight or obese is not reliable and can result in misdiagnosis, the Commission on Clinical Obesity says in a new paper in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya/ Pexels The way obesity is diagnosed needs to become more sophisticated, an international commission has concluded.

In Tuesday's issue of The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, dozens of international medical experts and people with lived experience are proposing a major change to how obesity is diagnosed because they say current medical approaches don't reliably assess an individual's health.

Relying on BMI alone to diagnose obesity is problematic as some people tend to store excess fat at the waist or in and around their organs, such as the liver, the heart or the

Obesity, long determined by the flawed metric of BMI, should be diagnosed based on other measurements, experts argue.

More than a billion people are estimated to be living with obesity worldwide and prescription weight-loss drugs are in high demand. The report, published in The Lancet Diabetes &